Sampling machine



May 24, 1960 A. LAPRISE SAMPLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 27, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3/ 22 29 30 gEI fh I m Adrian LAM/8E BY Am y 24, A. LAPRISE 2,937,529

SAMPLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 2?, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A EI .51

10 v!!! Ad 1 HVIWM Adrien LAM/8E United States Patent SAMPLING MACHINE Adrien Laprlse, 702 Laurier St., Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada Filed Feb. 27, 1958, Ser. No. 718,058 1 Claim. (Cl. 73-423) The present invention relates to a machine for taking samples and has for its main object a machine for taking samples, at prescribed time intervals, of material in flowable form in a continuous process and at a location where the material to be sampled flows in a' downward direction at substantially atmospheric pressure.

The machine, in accordance with the present invention, is, for example, capable of taking samples of wood chips continuously flowing down a chute on their way to a digester in a pulp or paper manufacturing plant.

The machine in accordance with the present invention, is also capable of taking samples of a liquid under the same conditions.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of a sampling machine of the character described in which a dumping bucket is arranged to reciprocate between a sampling position for collecting a sample of the flowing material and a retracted dumping position; in which the bucket dumps the sample, automatically under the action of the weight of the latter and in such away that the bucket-dumps the entire sample into any suitable collecting member. I

Still another important object of the present invention is the provision of a sampling machine of the character described in which the cycle of operation can be easily adjusted .to suit requirements.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provision of a sampling machine of the character described which is adapted to collect a plurality'of successive individual samples and to combine the same to form a composite sample over a period of time.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of a machine of the character described which is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and which is rugged in construction and will give a long and trouble free service.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the sampling machine associated with a chute to take samples of a ma- .terial flowing down the latter;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the dumping bucket used for taking samples of solids in flowable form;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of another form of a dumping bucket used for taking samples of a liquid;

Figure .4 is an end view of the dumping bucket of Figure 3;

Figures 5, 6 and 7 are schematic elevations of the assembly of the rocker arm, sliding bar and'actuating wheel in three different positions of said elements; and

Figures 8 to 11 inclusive are schematic side elevations of the bucket rest and dumping bucket showing the successive positions taken by the latter during a complete cycle of the sampling operation.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in avhich like reference characters indicate like elements throughout, the sampling machine in accordance with the present invention is generally indicated at 1, and is adapted to be associated with a chute A which is vertically or downwardly inclined so that a material B in flowable form may travel down the chute. Said material may be a liquid or a solid provided the latter is in flowable form, such as wood chips.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, the material B is in the form of discrete solid particles which,

for instance, are conveyed by a conveyor C when reach-,

ing the lower end of the chute A. The chute A is provided with a lateral aperture D and 'the upper marginal portion E of said aperture is recessed inwardly of the, .chute so as to overhang the lowermarginal portion F of.

said aperture D; .thus preventing the discharge [of the flowable material B through aperture D.

A sample collecting funnel 2 is disposed at the side of the chute A provided with the lateral aperture D.

with its upper inlet end 3 at a lower level than said lateral aperture D.

The sampling machine proper has-a housing 4 which is disposed adjacent the sample collecting funnel 2.at the side thereof opposite the chute A.

The housing, 4 has a bottom wall 5, a top wall 6, a front end wall 7, a' back end wall 8 and lateral walls,

.2 one of which is shown at 9.

A bucket rest 10 is rigidly secured, by means of a bolt 11, to the outer end of a support bar 12 which is horizontally disposed and extends above the sample collecting funnel 2 and is adjustably secured by means of brackets 13 to the outside of the lateral wall 9 and to a triangular extension 14 of said wall 9. The axial position of the support 12 is-adjusted so as to have the outer end portion of the bucket rest 10 projecting within. the

chute A through the lateralaaperture'D. The bucket rest 101's made from a metal plate and is shaped to pro vide a straight horizontal top edge 15 merging with a downwardly curved end edge portion 16.

A sliding bar 17 is mounted for horizontal sliding movement in two spaced channels 18 which are secured within the housing 4 adjacent the top wall 6. The chan-.

nels 18 are each provided with a grease fitting 19 forthe lubrication of the sliding bar 17. The latter passes through an opening made in the front end wall 7 of the housing 4 and is disposed above the support .bar 12 for the bucket rest 10. The outer end of the sliding bar 17 forms a yoke 20 which is disposed in a horizontal plane.

Either a dumping bucket 21, as shown in Figure 2, which is used for flowable material in. solid state or a dumping bucket 22 for liquids, as shown in Figure 3,. is

- pivotally connected to the outer ends of the side legs of the yoke 20 for free rotation about a horizontal transverse central axis;

The dumping bucket 21 consists of two channel shaped members 23 which are secured together in opposite relationship and which are provided at each end thereof a with upstanding central fingers 24 disposed on the middle longitudinal axis of the bucket.

edges 26 of each channel member 23. The outer ends of the yoke member 20 are pivotally connected at 27 to,

said side members 25. The dumping bucket 21'is:

balanced about the pivot points 27 and thus remains stationary in anyangular position. When the bucket'is in a horizontal position it is adapted to slide along the top straight edge 15 of the bucket rest 10, the latter latented May 24, 1960 Curved side members 25 are secured to the central part of the longitudinal outer about a horizontal transverse axis which passes through the pivot connections 30.

A pair of semi-spherical cups 31 are secured to the plate 28, one on each face and at opposite ends of said plate. The dumping bucket 22 is balanced so as to remain stationary in any angular position with respect to the pivotal connections 30. The plate 28 is adapted to slide longitudinally along the top straight edge 15 of the bucket rest 10 which is sufiiciently laterally offset from the centre line of dumping bucket 22 to clear the cups 31, as clearly shown in Figure 4.

The dumping bucket is reciprocated in a horizontal plane between a sampling position, shown in dotted line in Figure l, and a retracted sample dumping position, shown in full line in Figure 1. For this purpose, use is made of the following mechanism: a rocker arm 32 is pivotally connected at its lower end, as shown at 33, to a frame plate 34 which is rigidly secured to the lateral wall 9 of the housing 4. The upper end of the rocker arm 32 is pivotally connected to the sliding bar 17 by means of a link 35. The rocker arm 32 extends along one side face of a large diameter worm gear wheel 36, which is mounted on a shaft 37 journalled in the lateral wall 9 of the housing 4 and in the frame plate 34. The gear wheel 36 is continuously rotated at a slow speed by means of a worm 38 mounted on a shaft 39 which is journalled in a bearing assembly 40 and driven by an electric motor 41 through a large diameter-driven pulley 42, a transmission belt 43 and a driving pulley 44, the latter being secured to the output shaft of the motor.

Referring to Figure 5, stud 45 and 45 are rigidly secured to the gear wheel 36 at unequal radial distances from the centre of the latter and such that the radially outer stud 45 leads the radially inner stud 45 when the gear wheel rotates in a counter clockwise direction, as indicated by arrow 46 in Figure 5. The studs 45 and 45' extend towards the rocker arm 32 and the latter is provided at its lower end with an enlarged portion 47 to the inside face of which is secured a cam plate 48 of generally triangular shape and providing two apices 49 and 49 substantially equally radially distant on opposite sides of the pivot 33 of the rocker arm 32. The apex 49 is in the circular path of the radially outer stud 45, while the apex 49 is in the circular path of the radially inner stud 45'.

Upon counterclockwise rotation of the gear wheel 36,

starting from a point in the cycle wherein the sliding bar 17 is in retracted position and the rocker arm 32 is in a corresponding inclined position extending close to the shaft of the gear wheel 36, as shown in Figure 5, the radially outer stud 45 first engages the outer portion of the cam plate 48 thereby causing counter clockwise rotation of the rocker arm 32 in accordance with arrow 50. The rocker arm 32 thus moves the sliding bar 17 towards the left, looking at Figure 5, thereby moving the dumping bucket 21 from a retracted position to a projecting sample collecting position. The rocker arm 32 has then the inclined limit position shown in Figure 6, wherein the radially outer stud 45 clears the radially outer apex 49 of the cam plate 48. Then the radially inner stud 45' engages the radially inner portion of the cam plate and initiates the clockwise rotation of the rocker arm 32, as shown by arrow 51 in Figure 6, until the rocker arm reaches its original inclined position shown in Figures and 7. Thus the sliding bar has now reached its limit retracted position correspondmg to the sample dumping position of the bucket 21. In the retracted limit position of the rocker arm 32, the radially inner stud 45' clears the radially inner apex 49 of the cam plate 48.

It is obvious that the length of time the dumping bucket 21 is in sample collecting position can be increased by simply positioning the radially inner stud 45 at a greater angular distance with respect to the radially outer stud 45, that is, by increasing the included angle defined by the two studs and the centre of rotation of the gear wheel 36; also, the time required for the entire cycle of operation can be increased or decreased by simply varying the relative diameters of the pulleys 42 and 44.

Figures 8 to 11 illustrate how the samples are collected and dumped into the sample collecting funnel 2. Figure 8 shows the dumping bucket in retracted position just after it has dumped a sample into the funnel 2; the bucket is in substantially vertical position and the sliding bar 17 begins its forward movement; said position corresponds to the positions of the rocker arm 32 and gear wheel 36 shown in Figure 5.

Forward movement of the dumping bucket causes the curved end edge 16 of the bucket rest 10 to engage the dumping bucket 21 at a point lower than its pivotal axis 27, thereby producing rotating movement of said dumping bucket so as to engage "the top edge 15 of the bucket rest 10. The sliding bar continues its forward movement to its limit projecting position wherein the bucket is in sample collecting position receiving a sample of the material flowing down chute A at the forward portion thereof, as shown in Figure 10.

Upon retraction of the sliding bar and dumping bucket, the latter slides along the top edge 15 of the bucket rest it) until it clears said top edge whereupon the bucket 21 rotates downwardly under the weight of the sample therein, thereby discharging said sample into the funnel 2, as shown in Figure 11. It will be noted that during each cycle of operation, the dumping bucket 21 rotates through one-half turn thereby completely discharging the sample collected therein; each half portion of the bucket becomes operative at each second cycle of operation.

The same cycle of operation applies either for the bucket 21 which is used for solids and the bucket 22 which is used for liquids, and, therefore, either one of said buckets may be used in the machine of the invention.

While preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention have been illustrated and described, it is understood that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

In a sample collecting machine, an assembly of elongated shape comprising a pair of buckets at opposite ends of said assembly opening on opposite sides of said assembly, means mounting said assembly for reciprocating movement in a substantially horizontal plane between a collecting location and a dumping location and for pivotal movement about a transverse axis passing through the centre of gravity of said assembly, each bucket when at the leading end of said assembly as the latter is horizontally disposed and moves towards collecting location, opening upwardly, a rest supporting said assembly at said collecting location and an abutment at the end of said rest first engaging said assembly, said abutment being located below the pivotal axis of said assembly.

Gullberg Feb. 14, 1905 Stephenson July 31, 1928 

